CyberSmart raises £1.3 million in funding to help SMEs address cybersecurity threats

London-based startup CyberSmart, which uses machine learning to assess and address cyber compliance and vulnerabilities in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has secured £1.3 million in new financing led by deep-tech investor IQ Capital. This funding will allow CyberSmart to scale within the British market and invest in technical capability.

Founded in 2017 by Jamie Akhtar and Mariella Thanner, CyberSmart was selected to take part in the first GCHQ accelerator programme. From this, the companies were able to have access to government tenders and work with GCHQ's international network of partners. 

Jamie Akhtar, CEO of CyberSmart, commented on the investment and coming out of stealth mode: “We’re excited to be able to scale our operations and start talking about how we’re helping to protect our nation’s most promising businesses from cyber threats.”

And how does CyberSmart self-reportedly do it? The startup is able to automatically check, fix and certify for Cyber Essentials compliance - a UK government cybersecurity certification. This is recommended by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and is increasingly required across supply chains in multiple industries. A Cyber Essentials certification is easily attainable the same day via the CyberSmart platform, reducing the cost and resource typically required to achieve compliance to a matter of hours. This allows SMEs to maintain 24/7 compliance across all their devices, including laptops and mobile, what can normally be considered quite a challenge for such companies. 

According to Sally Blake, marketing director at Legal Edge, and a CyberSmart platform user, it offers simplicity and scalability to a complex and manual process: “CyberSmart speak our language and is in tune with the requirements of SMEs. Their platform and processes were clearly explained and easily navigated and their responsive platform enables us to communicate and track our compliance activity. The team are extremely helpful, friendly and knowledgeable supporting you at every step of the journey.”